GURPS - Compendium 1..

Player-Created Races
Although the creation of nonhuman
races for a campaign is primarily the
responsibility of the GM, the adventurous
GM might allow an especially good player
or group to design races for their characters.
Such player-generated races can add
an appropriate feeling of randomness to
the fantasy campaign. Of course, opportunistic
players can also seriously undermine
game balance if allowed to abuse
these rules.
A few tips, then, for the GM whose
players may be interested in creating their
own races:
Player-generated races work best in a
campaign that already has a plethora of
different races. If you're asking the whole
party to play nonhumans, make sure you
have a few ready-made PC races on hand
for those who might not be interested in the
extra game mechanics of racial creation.
The GM should closely oversee every
step of the creation process. It's his campaign.
Nothing that he doesn't approve of
should be allowed, no matter how convincingly
the player argues!
Be leery of player-created NPC races.
Remember, NPC races should be somewhat
mysterious to the players, and mystery
is hard to maintain when the creator is a
member of the party. If a player comes to
you with a number of good NPC races,
encourage him to start his own GURPS
campaign
such as a small subset of one of the groups in the Basic Set - can do so, and may
amend the point cost to the extent that he finds reasonable (2 to 5 points per + 1,
depending on the size and utility of the skill group).
Racially-Learned Skills
A racially-learned skill is an actual automatic level of proficiency which
every member of the race acquires. In most cases, this will be innate or instinctive.
For example, a race with padded feet might possess the Stealth skill.
A racially-learned skill is expressed as, for instance, "Astrogation at IQ," or
"Poetry at IQ+2." Note that the actual level of skill possessed by an individual
member of a race will vary according to the underlying attribute score of that
individual. It is assumed that while every member of the race receives the same
instruction (or has the same feet!), the more intelligent members are able to
apply the knowledge more efficiently and creatively. The "Rule of 12" (p. 74)
does not apply to racially-learned skills. The point cost of racially-learned skills is
figured according to the chart on page B44.
For skills where specialization is required, the GM may either set the specialization
for the whole race or allow the player to select his character's specialization.
Effects of Experience
Racial skill bonuses (including group skill bonuses) can never be increased
through experience. When improving a skill through experience, disregard the
racial bonus and calculate the new level based solely upon the points spent, then
apply the racial skill bonus to the final skill level. For example, if a race has +1
Fast-Talk, it would cost a member of that race only 1 point to have Fast-Talk at
IQ. If that character later wanted to raise Fast-Talk to IQ+1, it would cost 1 more
point.
Racially-learned skills may be increased in the same way as normallybought
skills, either when the character is created or through experience. For
example, if a certain race has Bow at DX, it would cost a character 4 points,
straight out of the chart on p. B44, to increase his skill to DX+1.
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